Fantasy Baseball Closers and Late-Inning Relievers as Season Begins
Discussing each MLB team's closer and setup men as the 2024 season gets underway.
The MLB season opens Thursday, and while not every team’s closer situation is set in stone as of Wednesday, it’s worth going through each team and noting which relievers are in line for save opportunities.
We’ll also highlight some setup men (7th-8th inning pitchers), who are also decent fantasy assets in some leagues.
Team’s late-inning reliever roles will change throughout the season, so be sure to check back to FantasySP for that news, and everything else about fantasy baseball!
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Diamondbacks
Paul Sewald is the team’s closing pitcher, but he’s expected to start the season on the injured list. That leaves Kevin Ginkel to close games for the time being, which explains why Ginkel is the top waiver wire option this week.
Sewald will regain the job when he’s back, but Ginkel is a solid option for at least a couple weeks. Scott McGough and Miguel Castro should be the setup men in the first couple of weeks of action.
Braves
Raisel Iglesias is the team’s closer, and is one of the better fantasy options in the league.
Iglesias will be set up by A.J. Minter and Joe Jimenez. With how much winning the Braves should be doing, Minter and Jimenez will both be pretty solid fantasy assets over the course of the season.
Orioles
With Felix Bautista out for the season, Craig Kimbrel was brought in to be the team’s closer.
Kimbrel is preceded by Yannier Cano, who is one of the top eighth-inning guys in the league. Danny Coulombe likely will get the seventh inning of games.
Red Sox
Kenley Jansen is the closer for Boston. He should be a good fantasy asset all season, even if the Red Sox aren’t all that good.
Chris Martin and Josh Winckowski are the setup men. If the Red Sox really struggle this season, the 25-year-old Winckowski might be thrust into the closer role over the 36-year-old Jansen or 37-year-old Martin.
Cubs
Adbert Alzolay is the closer for the Cubs to open the 2024 season. He’s a sneaky good fantasy option.
Hector Neris and Julian Merryweather are the likely setup men.
White Sox
The White Sox are our first team on this list that doesn’t look to have a locked-in closer.
Some options to close games will be Michael Kopech, Steven Wilson, John Brebbia and Jordan Leasure. I’d try to stay away from any of these guys outside really deep leagues, but if I had to gamble on one guy, I’d take the upside of the young Kopech.
Reds
Alexis Diaz is the Cincinnati closer, and should be one of the top fantasy relievers in the game this season.
Emilio Pagan and Lucas Sims look to be the couple setup men for Diaz.
Guardians
Cleveland has another top-end fantasy reliever in Emmanuel Clase.
Scott Barlow and Nick Sandlin should serve as the setup men.
Rockies
It appears that Colorado is going with co-closers to start the season. Justin Lawrence looks like the preferred guy, but Tyler Kinley might also get some closing opportunities.
Jake Bird looks like the team’s seventh-inning guy.
I’d gamble on Lawrence eventually becoming the full-time closer, but that’s likely a very valuable roster spot pretty much stashing a player, so act accordingly based on your league’s settings.
Tigers
Alex Lange will open the season as the Detroit closer. He was one of my favorite sleeper picks in draft season, and I think he’ll have a great season.
If he doesn’t, Jason Foley could be next in line for saves. Shelby Miller likely has the seventh inning.
Astros
Houston has arguably the best 1-2 punch at the end of its bullpen. Josh Hader will close games, while former closer Ryan Pressly sets him up in the eighth.
As if that wasn’t enough, Bryan Abreu is another elite bullpen arm that would probably close for a handful of teams in the league. All three of these Astros are good/great fantasy options.
Royals
Kansas City also looks to be going with co-closers to open the season up. Will Smith is the veteran option for saves, while James McArthur is a bit younger/inexperienced option.
John Schreiber looks like the team’s seventh-inning guy.
Angels
Carlos Estevez will open the season as the Angels’ closer.
Robert Stephenson was the next in line for saves if Estevez struggled, but is injured to open the season. That leaves Matt Moore and Jose Soriano as setup men for the time being.
Dodgers
Evan Phillips is the Dodgers’ closer for 2024.
He’ll be set up by Joe Kelly and Ryan Brasier. Brusdar Graterol and Blake Treinen could also serve as setup guys when they get back from injuries.
Marlins
Tanner Scott is the Miami closer to open 2024. He was another sleeper pick in drafts for me.
Andrew Nardi and Anthony Bender are setup men.
Brewers
Devin Williams is the Brewers’ closer, but he’ll miss a couple months of the regular season, which really hurts his fantasy value.
The Brewers look like they’ll start the year with a committee to close games out. Joel Payamps, Trevor Megill and Abner Uribe are the top options.
Payamps seems to be who fantasy owners are gravitating toward, but I’m guessing it will be pretty evenly split to start the season. I like Uribe the best because he’s young (23 years old) and has a live arm.
Twins
Jhoan Duran is another top-end closer that’s injured to open the season. There’s no timetable that I’ve seen yet, but some guesses are saying he’s out all of April.
Griffin Jax looks like he’ll get the save opportunities with Duran out, with Brock Stewart and Jorge Alcala there to set him up. Caleb Thielbar and Justin Topa are also injured to start the year, but could hold leverage roles at points this season.
Mets
Edwin Diaz is back from injury and the Mets’ closer once again.
Adam Ottavino and Brooks Raley are the guys that will serve as setup men.
Yankees
Clay Holmes is the Yankees’ closer for 2024.
Jonathan Loaisiga and Ian Hamilton look to be the top setup men to open the season.
Athletics
Oakland appears to be going with a committee to open the 2024 season.
Mason Miller, Lucas Erceg and Dany Jimenez are the closer options to kick off the season. I like Miller's young and lively arm to win the job in the long run.
Phillies
Jose Alvarado is the Phillies’ closer to open 2024.
Jeff Hoffman and Seranthony Dominguez look like the top setup men to start the season.
Pirates
Pittsburgh has a great 1-2 punch at the end of its pen. David Bednar is the closer and should be one of the top fantasy options for the season.
Aroldis Chapman has closing experience and will be one of the top eighth-inning guys in the MLB. Ryan Borucki is the seventh-inning guy.
Padres
Robert Suarez is the Padres’ closer to open the regular season.
International signing Yuki Matsui is a good eighth-inning guy and backup plan is Suarez struggles. Enyel De Los Santos is another setup man.
Giants
Camilo Doval is the Giants’ closer, and should be one of the top fantasy relievers this coming season.
Tyler Rogers and Taylor Rogers are good setup men, with Tyler Rogers being a decent fantasy asset over the years.
Mariners
Andres Munoz will open the season as the Seattle closer.
He will be set up by Ryne Stanek and Gabe Speier to start the season.
Cardinals
Ryan Helsley is the St. Louis closer in 2024.
He’s set up by Giovanny Gallegos and Andrew Kittredge.
Rays
Pete Fairbanks is an underappreciated fantasy closer - he’ll serve as the Rays’ closer in 2024.
Jason Adam and Colin Poche are solid setup men, with Adam being a pretty good fantasy option.
Rangers
It’s weird to say, but a contending team is going with co-closers to start the season. Jose Leclerc and David Robertson are the two guys that will battle for the role at the start of the season.
Josh Sborz and Kirby Yates will also hold leverage roles this season and could work into the closer mix if the top two guys struggle.
Blue Jays
Jordan Romano is the Toronto closer, but he’s hurt to start the season. With Erik Swanson also going to IR, that likely means Yimi Garcia gets closing opportunities early on.
Nate Pearson and Genesis Cabrera are setup relievers to open the season, but could lose those roles when everyone is healthy.
Nationals
We close things with Washington, which likely has co-closers to open the season.
Kyle Finnegan and Hunter Harvey are the top options right now. My guess is on Finnegan to ultimately win the job, but both guys are owned in 58% of leagues, so fantasy owners are truly torn on who to roster.
Tanner Rainey is likely the team’s seventh-inning guy to start the season.
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